


Prime Mates

by carolej126



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Episode Related, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-12
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-08-14 13:48:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8016418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carolej126/pseuds/carolej126
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spoilers for 'The Debt'</p>
<p>Original dialogue has been changed to protect... uh, I mean, to suit the author.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Prime Mates

Jim Ellison wore an incredulous look. "So you mean to tell me in all the time you lived here you never once suspected you lived next door to an ice lab?"

Blair Sandburg shook his head vehemently. "Oh, man, I swear, that place was deserted. I mean last week I did start to hear some strange noises in the middle of the night, but I could have sworn it was just like the plumbing."

"The plumbing?" Jim repeated in disbelief.

"Or maybe, you know, the rodents or something. I don't know."

Jim rolled his eyes in bemusement. "Only you, Sandburg."

"Well, it could have been," Blair retorted, a sheepish look on his face.

"Is this all your stuff?" Jim asked, glancing at the boxes filling the small car.

"Yeah, it's most of it. I'll have to try to come back tomorrow and put the rest into storage." Blair heaved a loud sigh as he turned to look at the demolished warehouse. "This is just the worst. Where am I going to stay?"

Jim shrugged. "I don't know. A hotel, hostel, something."

Blair frowned. "A hotel would be fine for me but what about Larry?"

"Don't you have any friends you could stay with?"

"Yeah, I could probably arrange to stay with someone for a few days, but there's no way that Larry could stay there, too."

"Put him in a kennel," Jim suggested. "He'll figure it out."

Clearly aghast at the idea, Blair shook his head fervently. "I can't do that to him. I mean, my project's due next Friday. Unless..." His voice trailed off and he looked up at Jim hopefully.

Jim backed up a step. "No, no, no. No. Just forget it."

"Come on, Jim. Jim, please, please," Blair begged. "My back is up against the wall here, man. We've got nowhere else to go."

"I'm not a big fan of animals in cages."

"Larry? Larry, he's no problem, no trouble at all. I mean, he's been around people his whole life. Heck, he's more human than most of my friends."

"And that's supposed to reassure me?" Jim asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Jim, one week. One week, and I promise, I promise, we'll be out of your hair. Come on. One week, man," Blair pleaded.

As Blair held his breath, Jim studied the ape for a long moment before answering, "All right, one week."

"This is so great!" Blair practically shouted, bouncing on his toes in excitement. "You won't even notice that I'm there."

"Whoa, wait a second, Chief. I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about Larry."

Blair was stunned into silence for only a minute. "You can't be serious!"

Moving over to give Larry a fond smile, Jim said, "Well, you did say that you already had a place to stay."

"I know, but... Come on, Jim! You don't know anything about taking care of him."

"I'm sure your gorilla and I will get along just fine."

"He's not a gorilla," Blair automatically corrected. "And besides, he's not the easiest animal to take care of."

A small whimpering noise caught Jim's attention. "Chief, I think you hurt his feelings."

Blair's eyes went wide. "I did what?"

"Hey, it's okay," Jim soothed. "He knows you didn't mean it."

"Uh, right," Blair managed to get out.

"Anyway, I've got an extra room. I can put Larry's cage in there."

Blair's face brightened. "You've got an extra room? Cool! How about if I..."

"Sure, Chief," Jim interrupted, "I'd be glad to let you store some of your stuff until you find a place of your own."

"That wasn't what I was going to ask," Blair muttered dejectedly as the oblivious detective turned his attention back to the ape.

Reaching over to pick up Larry's cage, Jim nodded toward his Expedition. "I'll put him in the front seat with me. Why don't you follow us over to the loft, and I'll help you unload some of this stuff."

"Yeah, okay."

"You can use my phone to find someone to stay with, if you want," Jim said, opening the passenger side door to place the cage inside his truck.

"Yeah, okay," Blair repeated. "Oh, Jim, I need to get that paper done by next week. I'm gonna have to spend some more time observing his behavior."

Jim thought for a minute. "How about if you come over a couple nights this week. I'll rent some movies for us to watch and you can work on your paper."

Blair nodded. "I suppose that would work."

"Hey, Sandburg?"

"Yeah?"

"About Larry... has he ever seen Bonanza?"

"I doubt it."

An anticipatory smile crossed Jim's face. "Good."

Shaking his head, Blair stared at the detective as Jim took his seat inside the Expedition. "You know, I'm already beginning to regret this."

 

~end~


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